Morus alba
Content
Description
Tree up to 10(-15) m tall.
Leaves distichous;
stipules 0.5-1.2 cm long, puberulous, caducous (or subpersistent).
flowers 5-20, sessile or up to 1.5 mm long pedicellate;
flowers 15-50;
ovary c. 1 mm long, style 0-1.5 mm long, stigmas 1.5-3.5 mm long.
Distribution
Ambon cultivated, Asia-Tropical: Borneo cultivated; Jawa (Jawa present ‒ cultivated); Lesser Sunda Is. cultivated; Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia cultivated); Maluku (Maluku cultivated); New Guinea cultivated; Philippines (Philippines cultivated); Sulawesi (Sulawesi cultivated); Sumatera (Sumatera cultivated), From Afghanistan through the Himalaya region to China and Japan present, Lombok cultivated, Luzon present, Simalur cultivated, Tanimbar Islands cultivated, Timor cultivated
From Afghanistan through the Himalaya region to China and Japan, wild or cultivated; in Malesia: introduced and cultivated in Sumatra (also Simalur), Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo, Philippines, Celebes, Lesser Sunda Islands (Lombok, Timor), Moluccas (Ambon, Tanimbar Islands), New Guinea; naturalised in parts of Java and N Luzon.
Taxonomy
Numerous names at the rank of species and below that rank have been attached to material of the genus Morus with minor morphological differences. This was a reason for Bureau (1873) to include them in M. alba. This broadly construed species also comprised material (with long pistillate inflorescences) under the name var. laevigata that is now included in F. macroura. For the remainder (with short pistillate inflorescences) two groups of varieties and subvarieties were recognized: those with short (0-c. 0.5 mm long) and those with long (c. 0.5-1.5 cm) styles. In material introduced outside the natural range to various parts of the tropics, these two categories can also be recognized, the former in general in plantations for silk production and temperate climatical conditions, the latter especially in trees used as fruit trees and in tropical lowland. A good number of specimens with pistillate inflorescences cannot be included in one of the two forms because of ± intermediate style lengths. Due to the lack of correlated characters in staminate inflorescences and in vegetative parts the best provisional solution could be to treat the form with short styles as var. alba and the other as var. indica (L.) Bureau (in , based on Morus indica L. (1753) 986). However, a thorough study on the Morus alba complex with traditional and modern methodology is needed to arrive at its taxonomic understanding. For this reason no synonyms are listed.
The long-styled material is often identified as Morus australis Poir., according to Bureau (1873) based on material of Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) Vent. The name has been reintroduced for Morus material by Rehder () and since often applied for long-styled material in cultivation mainly in lowland tropics.
The long-styled material is often identified as Morus australis Poir., according to Bureau (1873) based on material of Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) Vent. The name has been reintroduced for Morus material by Rehder () and since often applied for long-styled material in cultivation mainly in lowland tropics.